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In 1972, Christopher Stone, a Harvard law professor, proposed the thoughtful rationale Should Trees Have Standing?†to explore the topic of potential rights of nature from a legal perspective. He opined that rivers and trees and other objects†of nature have rights and that these should be protected by granting legal standing to guardians of these objects. This argument resonated with then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who argued in a dissent in the case of Sierra Club v. Mortonthat standing should be given to natural entities so that successful legal claims might be made for their preservation.

While the idea of the rights of nature is not new, it has only recently begun gaining momentum, spurred by Ecuador's addition of provisions to ensure the rights of nature to its constitution in 2008.  The concept is generally defined as the recognition and respect for the idea that natural ecosystems (including trees, oceans, animals, mountains, and other living or non-living entities in nature) have legal rights specifically, to exist, persist, regenerate, and maintain their vital cycles.  Accompanying this right is the legal authority and duty of humans to enforce these rights on behalf of nature.

The Concept of Rights of Nature Gains Traction 

Ecuador was the first sovereign nation to give legal recognition to rights of nature in response to proposed oil and mineral development in its rainforest areas.  In 2008, provisions to protect the rights of nature were added to the country's constitution, and validated a few years later when the rights of the Vilcabamba River were subsequently recognized in Ecuador's courts. The efforts in Ecuador to secure rights for ecosystems and other parts of nature are closely related to indigenous people's struggles for recognition of their rights and attempts to protect their traditional lands and ways of life.

Bolivia has also enacted laws that provide nature and its features with rights.  Law 071, The Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, was spearheaded by indigenous and campesino (small-scale farmer) grassroots movements and has at its heart the directive that the state and any individual or collective person must respect, protect, and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth for the well-being of current and future generations.

Adoption in the U.S.

In the United States, environmental and rights-of-nature provisions have been increasingly...